Chapter 6: Subject 001

Creak!

Thud!

Tap! Tap! Tap! 

Creak!

Thud!

'What is the annoyance?'

Not being much of a morning person, being roused before my natural waking time by an irritating sound made me get up on the wrong side of the bed this fine morning.

Given that there was opening and closing of doors, it was otherwise ominously quiet. I shifted to grab the gun under my pillow and hid in a corner. 

Badum! Badum! 

My heart raced with terror and anxiety and my palms were sweating on the tight grip of the gun. 

Finally my door. I felt the familiar creak until the door was fully opened and I saw the culprit of my predicament. 

A young child barely more than 10 years old. He had sharp silver-gray eyes that seemed to glow with mysterious light. His pink-maroon hair was an unusual color. A body which seemed of skin and bones at best and…. No clothes or shoes. It was a weird combination. The child looked into the room and I unconsciously pulled the trigger.

Ah!

I felt threatened by this frail young child. Threatened enough to shoot a young child.

I inwardly sighed thinking that it was unbecoming of me when I heard the sound of metal hitting on metal.

I subconsciously looked up and met with an absurd sight. 

The child held the bullet in his sharp nails which were now elongated only to retract to normal a second later. 

As if in reaction to a threat, his body had also experienced a slight change. His silver eyes now glowed of scarlet red and his slightly sharp pointed ears twitched.

I held my breath and tried to make my presence unnoticed as much as possible but the eyes which formerly glanced around with uncertainty now accurately pinpointed me and spoke. 

The child spoke mature words with such a childish voice it was certainly funny but I couldn't find the will in me to laugh. 

It also seemed like he didn't know so much. 

"Ahem…could you not stare?"  the child requested with a healthy blush covering his face. 

I mean, I wasn't exactly staring at his nakedness but his strange features, but too much explanation would only be counterproductive.

I shifted my eyes and met his gaze only to feel a chill down my spine. It felt like I was staring at the abyss—deep, endless, and consuming. I could feel a sinister energy sip from them threatening to devour me whole and promising to give me hell. 

Gulp!

I swallowed the air of my dry mouth. 

"I don't want to seem like I am speaking to myself. You know, I am a lot of things but I am not crazy~" The child said pointing accurately at my gun which I felt compelled to put down. 

I was sure he could kill me with or without it so why bother? 

"I'm sorry, I don't know you, I thought it was an intruder…." I said.

"Oh, you know a lot about me. We have a rather very 'intimate' relationship. I have been living above you for a while, now so that would make us neighbors, wouldn't it? What do you think?"

Huh?

The only person who stayed upstairs was the experiment subject 001…

Oh, Shit!

I quickly glanced back to find the child in front of me taking away the gun and carelessly fiddling with it. 

Kacha!

They put on the safety pin.

'How does he know that?'

Subject 001 suddenly turned around and smiled. His shark-like saw teeth came into view. I could imagine they could cut through anything.

I knew they could slice through metal like cheese. I enhanced them myself before his transplant.

I was nervous say the least.

"You seem nervous. I won't hurt you, not yet at least." the child whispered the last part as if I couldn't hear it at such a short distance.

I felt my heart constrict with fear and drummed even harder in my chest.

While I was crouched down, the child was at eye level.

I couldn't ignore the glowing scarlet globs in the darkness that made it hard to see far away but I could outline things given my adaptability to the dark. 

The child on the other hand seemed to navigate around like it was day.

It was like a fish in water. 

"Can you at least respond like your life depends on it or is it that I am not making that point clear?" His frail hands waved the gun in my line of sight gripping my eyes one more.

Those words broke me off from my stupor to somehow find a response.

"I-I c-can!" I stuttered a reply as nervous as I was.

"Perfect, let's go, help me find some clothes. Clean ones preferably!" Subject 001 grinned ear to ear as if appreciating my cooperation.

"Yes!"

I stood up and followed along with this child I was sure of his identity.

Subject 001...

If he truly was the child from the upstairs room, then he was simply an abomination.

One I created.

I had seen all the peculiar features such as those changing eyes, sharp ears, and saw-like teeth and I was certain that was not the full extent of it.

It was barely a full percentage of the genes he held in that body. 

I had put so many extracts and several blood essences of several creatures within that tiny body. While I was not the one doing the actual injecting and operation I was the one in charge of gathering material, research, and finalization of the results….

I was the only one who knew the full extent of what was in those vials.

I knew full well of the potential still unveiled within that tiny body.

I suddenly felt dizzy.

While Subject 001 was my first experimental subject, I had no plans to make it a success. That was why I went all wild using anything and everything I could get my hands on believing that no human could withstand such a huge amount of alteration without withering away and dying.

That being said, if I revealed my identity, then I was surely going to die. There was no other way this situation could develop.

I walked around the familiar establishment made of my own approved design and found a set of clothes that were slightly bigger than intended, but I couldn't do much about it. I never took into consideration having any moving children around here. 

In the distance, I felt a gaze staring at me unblinkingly all the way. I knew I had no chance of escape and I would not bet it on my luck. 

My luck was shitty, that much I had established and come to peace with. 

"Umn…Here, this is all I could find…" I stammered, I guess. 

A small pair of hands stretched out to take them away and I flinched.

Okay, I was scared…a little too scared of this child.

He looked back into my eyes and his lips curved up and he nodded turning around candidly towards a room. 

Haah!

I sighed.

'What have I gotten myself into?'